This is a zine dedicated to death/thrash, technical and traditional death metal for more info contact hatredmeanswar@yahoo.com looking for new authors do to lack of time to cover everything email me at the email listed above if you want to do reviews and interviews for the blog.

Monday, February 27, 2017

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

First of all, we sent the pre-orders :) Album release, especially if it’s first release in the life of band, is very thrilling and nervous, so first few days we just watched the response. Now we are getting ready for some shows and rehearsing the new material.

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Overall it is just modern metal sound. Although metal music is really an old thing now, it still evolves, and using some ‘start-of-the-art’ sound techniques is what we really feel like more than providing your ears with just a sole downtuned aggressive palm-muted chunky chuggage :D Punchy drum grooves on a basic kit, heavily distorted bass, gainy guitars, synths, sequencers — all are here, but you still can hear lots of folk instruments, that are almost impossible to hear in modern metal.

3.Some of your lyrics cover science fiction, religions and politics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?

Well, you might call them just generic metal lyrics, haha! Basically, we just sing about things we have something to say about, so all our lyrics are not empty wordsets, and we are really proud of them.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name ‘Ignea'?

Ignea is feminine of ‘fiery’ or ‘in flames’ in latin. Fiery is one of the epithets all bands would love to hear about them, and we just say ourselves that we really burn it, don’t we?

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Well, there are not a lot of things to talk about here, as we play live really infrequently. This is our own decision: first, we don’t want to bore people with ourselves, so we have a rule not to play a show more than once a year in one city; second, we really care about our sound, so we have a consistent rider which can’t be provided in lots of Ukrainian venues. As for ourselves… we nail the material for sure, but we still have to learn a lot I think. At least I’m not shy to say so.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Sure, we plan to do a bunch of shows in Ukraine, then play on some few summer festivals, and we also work on some European dates, but we can’t say anything about them yet.

7.On the album you had also done a cover of Ultra Sheriff's "Leviathan', what was the decision behind doing your own version of this song?

It’s a funny story, actually. This concept born precisely on the day we got our cat Leviathan (you could see him in the end of guitar playthrough of Halves Rupture). I just wanted to post his cute photo on my VK.com page with any song called Leviathan, so I just stumbled upon this one and thought about how it would sound with metal arrangement. Now we all know!

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?

It is absolutely stunning! We are a small band somewhere on outskirts of Europe, and we are really amazed about people getting to know us from all those distant places.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We don’t have a lantern to light our path. We don’t owe anything to anyone musically, and we are absolutely free to do what we feel like. If we’ll want to have a song with ukrainian lyrics — we’ll do it, if we’ll want to cover Snoop Dogg — we’ll do it, if we’ll ever feel like doing a drone ambient album — we’ll do it for sure.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We all listen to different things and use all those elements in our music if they really fit. I personally listen everything from turkish pop and ukrainian underground techno scene to things like contemporary prog rock from southern UK (BlackPeaks, Toska, Heck, Arcane Roots, all that stuff). Helle really loves a lot of pop singers, Dmitri listens to classical music and some really aggressive metal things, Ivan is a metalcore fan, Xander loves, well… he’s a bass player, OK. The most funny point of it is that we are absolutely not influenced by any of the bands people love to compare us to in youtube comments. Nope, neither Lacuna Coil, nor Epica, nor Nightwish. We listen to them a bit, but nah.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I’m a big fan of sustainable transportation and green electricity, I also love to cook, Xander is a gamer and LARP player, Helle’s into marketing and stunning-looking outfits (usually they are on Pinterest only), she also watches tons of weird movies I don’t understand, Dmitri is actually a professional classical pianist and organist, Ivan is a party man. We all are completely different, and I think this is a key to writing interesting music.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

We are very open people, and we’d love to know people from all over the world, and playing in a band is a big opportunity for us. We are not signed to a label (and we don’t want to be), so the best promotion we have are you people. Just share something with other guys, show us to your friends, and make us happier with our ever-growing listeners family, and we’ll make you happier with more good music and emotions in return. See you on the road, hopefully!

Sunday, February 26, 2017

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?1. Since We've Recorded The Album We've Been Playing Small Gigs Writing New Songs and Collecting New Ideas For a New Album.

2.In 2016 you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the ep you had released in 2013?2. Back In 2013 We We're Playing Much Softer Music Than What We Play Now and Didn't Have Much Knowledge On Recording, But Our New Album Is Far Better and More Powerful and It Is The Sound That We Wanna Put Out There.

3.In the beginning the band was more of a traditional metal style but over the years you have evolved into more of a death/thrash direction, what was the decision behind going into this direction?3. When Two Members Changed In Dark Phantom We Talked About Everything And What To Do For The Sound of the Band and We Agreed on Playing Heavier and Stronger Eventually Our Sound Became Thrash/Death Metal.

4.The band has been around since 2007 but so far has only put out 2 releases, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap in between releases?4. Due to the Situation of Our Country the War and Terrorism We Were Not Free To Do As We Want, We Had to Stay Low just Not Be Called Satanist or Kafr and Be Killed, The Situation Is Still Somehow As It Was Just a Little Better, So Much For Us To Take The Risk and Get Out There and Do Out Music.

5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?5. As The Main Lyrical Theme for Dark Phantom is Political and Anti-Religion It Will Stay The Same Only We'll Introduce Words from Our Native Languages (Kurdish, Turkmen and Arabic).

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?6. Every Show We've Played Lately Has Been Great But For The Best It Has To The One We Played Feb2017 in Hawler It Had a Great Turn Out and It Was Full of Energy and Headbanging.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?7. We're Currently Plays In The Neighbor Cities But We're Planning on Going To Turkey and Do a Small Tour There.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death and thrash metal?8. The Feedback Has Been Great We'd Like To Thank Everyone Who Has Been Supportive of Us.

9.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?9. Yes Two of Us Has Their Own Solo Projects and They Also Have Albums Available on Youtube, Mir Our Vocalist and Rebeen Our Lead Guitarist, Under the Names of:Cyaxares, MirRebeen Dark, Rebeen

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?10. For the iraqi future its so hard to expect if we was in Europe or Usa it was better cuz here even we make music for free free concerts transfer too another city by our coast a lot of people they think its satan work you cant imagine how they think

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?11. We Listen To Lots of Band Almost Every Band But The Ones That Inspire Us To Do What We Do Are: Metallica, Slayer, Behemoth and Lamb of God.

12.How would you describe the metal scene in your home country of Iraq?12. There isn't Much Metal In Our Country Most Hasn't Even Heard of Such Music But We're Trying to Enlighten People and Hopefully More and More Will Join the Scene.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?13. We are also fan of old school metal music like Metallica Slayer but we listen to modern too to bring some new ideas mixing both together

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?14.We just want to present our music our message to people to all around the world to here is a metal band in iraq working hardly just for love music and we are also dreaming to make shows in different countries that's not impossible but we need support from the west before than our people cuz we know almost of them they hate us cuz western people they will know how its hard to make metal music in a place that they dont whats the music

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Ignea are a band from Ukraine that plays a very symphonic and progressive form of oriental metal and this is a review of their self released 2017 album "The Sign Of Faith".

Oriental style acoustic guitars start off the album and they also mix in with the heavier sections of the recording and the riffs also bring in a great amount of prog metal elements and tribal style beats are also used at times while the female vocals gives the songs more of an exotic feeling and death metal growls are also used quite a bit.

All of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and the songs also mix in a great amount of symphonic elements and when the music speeds up a small amount of blast beats can be heard while influences of thrash are also added into some of the guitar riffing and when solos and leads are utilized they are done in a very melodic fashion and middle eastern style folk instruments are also added onto some of the tracks along with a couple that are also very long and epic in length and spoken word parts are also used briefly and they also bring in a cover of Ultra Sheriff's "How I Hate The Night".

Ignea plays a musical style that takes oriental folk music, symphonic, progressive and death metal and mixes them together to create a sound of t heir own, the production sounds very professional for being a self released recording while the lyrics cover Zorastarian, Science Fiction and political themes.

In my opinion Ignea are a very great sounding symphonic and progressive oriental metal band and if you are looking for something very original, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Alexandria" "Jahi" "Alga" and "Leviathan". 8 out of 10.

New Zealand's Monsterworks have returned with a new recording that continues the death, thrash, power and progressive metal mixture of previous releases and this is a review of their 2017 album "Alternatum" which was released by Eat, Lead And Die Music.

Atmospheric sounds along with some melodic guitar riffing starts off the album along with some heavier riffs a few seconds later and the solos and leads also use a great amount of melody and you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard.

When clean and acoustic guitars are utilized they give the music more of a progressive feeling and after awhile aggressive vocals along with some power metal touches are added onto the recording and growls are also utilized at times and most of the tracks are very long and epic in length and some songs also add in elements of classic rock and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts.

Monsterworks creates another recording that remains true to the progressive and atmospheric mixture of death, thrash and power metal from previous releases, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover philosophical and scientific themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Monsterworks and if you are a fan of death, thrash, power, and progressive metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Oracle" and "Divergence". 8 out of 10.

Monday, February 20, 2017

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?Zan: Were an extreme metal band from Vancouver BC. Trying to aim for a different sound and image.Miles: We started in ournteenage years with just our drummer (zan) and our guitarist (miles), with a few comings and goings. This is our first band, and our mission has always been about technical, proggy extreme metal.Spencer:The band was started way back in 2009 in Vancouver, BC. We were all very young when we started ( I was 13 when the band started) and kind of honed our skills with this project. We released one EP/demo in 2013 ,played a bunch of local gigs, and recorded the debut album... and here we are now

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?Zan:Our sound is definitely very heavy with death and thrash influences but a lot of our influences come from outside metal which contributes to our overall sound. Miles: A bunch of radically different elements evenly represented. I like to think of it as an experiment in everything from death/thrash metal to proggy psych rockSpencer:The songs on the green and black album tend to jump around stylistically a bit, but I would describe us as either progressive death metal or extreme metal. Ripping guitar solos, crushing drums, defined bass, and brutal vocals!

3.The band has been around since 2009 but so far has only released one ep and one full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the gaps in between releases?Zan:. In 2009 I bought my very first drum kit and started to learn. I met Miles few months later. We jammed in my buildings garage and began writing our song "Beyond" and we found Spencer a year later which completed our sound. It took a few years to write and develop the ability to perform the songs well, Which is why there is a gap between releasesMiles: We went through a great number of setbacks due to (now) former members, and trying to get good enough to make music we were proud of. Riftwalker is every members first band.Spencer:From 2009 to the release of the EP/demo recording "wreckage of the old world" we spent a lot of time practicing recording, and re recording that demo. I think we recorded 3 full different versions of it. We also spent almost a year without a jam space. After we released the EP we played a bunch of shows and got used to gigging regularly, and then we jumped into the studio to record "green and black". The album was recorded about 2 years ago; we were holding onto the tracks waiting to make the release monumental, and the reception so far has been really good.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?Zan: Lyric topics are all varied song to song and have relevence to our typical struggle through life through many different perspectives.Miles: Themes include the nature of the universe, the afterlife, social dysfunction, birth defects, blowing yourself up making drugs in your house, the list goes on. Spencer: cliche as it sounds a lot of it has to do with life and death. Some songs deal with hypnotism, nature, and one song in particular harlequin ichthyosis is about the terrible skin defect.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Riftwalker'?Zan:. Riftwalker means "who who walks through dimensions" and we were inspired by this concept because there were many themes we could explore Miles: It represents the variety in our songwriting. Likecrossing the rift between different planes if existence, we cross between radically different sections within (most of) our songsSpencer: Riftwalker- one who walks between dimensions. The album cover captures the bands name fairly well. On the cover the Riftwalker is seen transcending from a heaven to a hell, walking between dimensions towards an unknown fate

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?Zan:We've opened for some big bands such as Archspire, Fallujah, Abiotic, and Benighted. Our performance is very energetic on stage and we tend to give it our all. We constantly are evolving our image.Miles: Our best was probably opening for Benighted (france) or Abiotic (usa) at local shows. Our stage performance is always changing,so stay tuned for live videos in the near future. Spencer:Over the years we have had the pleasure of opening for some great acts such as, abiotic, archspire, benighted, and fallujah. Our stage show is aiming to be up front yet have an element of theatrics and mystery about it

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?Zan: Our Cd release show is on January 28th in Vancouver, were hoping by the end of the year to be on the road.Miles: Too many. We are collecting ourselves, and improving/ changing our stage performance. We are putting more into this band than anything else in our lives.Spencer: We plan to tour around Canada and play some festivals this summer and havea cd release show coming up on January 27th in our hometown of Vancouver

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?Zan: We have been self funding everything so far. Our goal is to keep pushing as much as we can on our own unless we can arrange a good deal with either one of our favorite labels. Miles: For now we are not looking for a label, and we are trying to get the message across that we can be self sufficient and succesful without aid.Spencer:f a established label approached us we would definitely consider it but as of right now we aren't actively looking.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of progressive and extreme metal?Zan:9 Our support has been been overwhelming from all over. We have some decent international support from the start which we are grateful for.Miles: 's been so cool to see people all over the world with a passion for the same thing as us; who like our music. There is aost nothing more validating.Spencer: So far the feedback for our album has been amazing. We receivedmany kind words from people all over the world, metal injection did a write up on us and featured us in their best of 2016, as did tech death time. We have also sold merch to people as far as Russia!

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?Zan: Its hard to say where our sound will be in the future, we are very comfortable with our formula for writing and our new material is definitely more of an evolution of our exisiting sound.Miles: We are continuing to experiment blending extreme metal elements with the other music we listen to. It does seem, however that we are going in a more "death metal" direction.Spencer: We already have another full length completely finished. Just have yet to record it. The songs are still along the same lines of the ones on the green and black album except for the fact that they are a lot more concise and in my opinion a lot heavier.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?Zan:. Beyond Creation, Psycroptic and decapitated are a few bands that we really draw from. We also listen to alot of jazz/fusion, funk, progressive music. These days im listening to alot of snarky puppy and vulfpeck.Miles: Lots of funk and disco is going down in our ears these days. Still tons of tech death too. I'd say Psycroptic, Ministry Obscura, and beyond creation influence our metal side a great deal.Spencer:Quo Vadis, beyond creation, dying fetus, psycroptic, the black dahlia murder, type o negative, victor wooten, Marcus miller, wretched, the offspring, woods of Ypres, death, SRV, atheist, etc, were all huge influences to me. Recently I've been listening to tons of leprous, vulfpeck, wastewalker, alterbeast, abominable putridity, and the human abstract just to name a few.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?Zan: As a band we like to spend a lot of time outdoors. Miles: We all play in at least 3 bands and work. There is not much room for anything outside of music and celebrating to be honest. But we have time for movies, Drinking, and general fuck-gooferySpencer:I like to longboard. Downhill skateboarding is something I've been doing for a long time, I just love the rush that it gives when you are soaring down the road at 60K+. Other then that not too much,I play in 2 other bands so a lot of my time is divided amongst projects and practicing bass at home for my aspirations of going to music school.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?Zan: Were really excited to keep pushing forward, we have a lot of content in the works. Stay tuned to our facebook for all details. Thanks!Miles: We are excited to see the direction that extreme metal is going these days. We hope for nothing more than being able to contribute to the same music movement that got us all through so many hard times. CheersSpencer:hank you, thanks to the fans, and I hope to meet and play for everyone and anyone who has taken the time to read this!

Friday, February 17, 2017

Burn Damage are a band from Portugal that plays a mixture of death, groove, and thrash metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Age Of Vultures" which was released by Raging Planet.

Dark soundscapes start off the album along with some clean guitars a few seconds later as well as a small amount of spoken word samples before going into a heavier direction which also introduces death metal growls onto the recording along with screams also being utilized at times and when the music speeds up blast beats can be heard.

Elements of thrash and groove metal can be heard in the guitar riffing and the riffs also use a decent amount of melody along with the songs also bringing in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and guitar solos and leads are only used briefly while a later tracks brings in a small amount of acoustic guitars.

Burn Damage plays a musical style that takes death, groove and thrash metal and mixes them together to create a sound of their own, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark themes.

In my opinion Burn Damage are a very great sounding mixture of death, groove and thrash metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Age Of Vultures" "Four Little Pigs" and "Beyond Good And Evil". 8 out of 10.

Dark Phantom are a band from Iraq that plays a mixture of death and thrash metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Nation Of Dogs" which was released as a joint effort between Symbol Of Domination Productions and United By Chaos.

Middle Eastern style flutes start off the album before going into a very fast thrash metal direction which also uses a great amount of blast beats and the riffs also use a great amount of melody along with all of the musical instruments sounding very powerful and after awhile death metal growls start to make their presence known.

When guitar solos and leads are utilized they bring in a very chaotic yet melodic style of extreme metal and while the music has a lot of old school influences it still sounds very modern at the same time and clean vocals are also utilized at times along with the songs also bringing in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and their is also a brief use of high pitched screams and a later track also adds in a small amount of classical guitars.

Dark Phantom plays a music style that takes death and thrash metal and mixes them together with a touch of traditional metal to create a sound of their own, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark, violent, and political themes.

In my opinion Dark Phantom are a very great sounding mixture of death and thrash metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "New Gospel" "Unholy Alliance" "Confess" and "State of War". 8 out of 10.

Conceived By Hate are a band from El Salvador that has been featured before in this zine and plays a mixture of death and thrash metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Death & Beyond" which was released as a joint effort between Satanath Records, Morbid Skull Records and Deathgasm Records.

A very dark and heavy sound starts off the album along with a great amount of blast beats and after awhile high pitched screams are added onto the recording and the riffs also use a great amount of melody and thrash influences while also mixing in the raw aggression of South American extreme metal.

All of the musical instruments on the recording have a very powerful sound to them and the solos and leads also stick to a very old school style of extreme metal and while the music is rooted in the past the production gives the songs more of a modern feeling and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and one track also brings in a small amount of synths while the main focus remains more on a guitar driven style and the last track is very long and epic in length..

Conceived By Hate remains true to the death and thrash mixture of previous releases while also updating the genre for modern days, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover metal, solitude, society, revenge, darkness, revenge and emptiness themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Conceived By Hate and if you are a fan of death and thrash metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Crossroad Of Fire" "The Underdog" "Below A Pale Sky" and "Death & Beyond". 8 out of 10.

Antropofagus are a band from Italy that has been featured before in this zine an d plays a very technical and brutal form of death metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Methods Of Resurrection Through Evisceration" which will be released in May by Comatose Music.

Epic sounding keyboards start off the album and after the intro the music goes into a very fast and brutal direction along with a great amount of blast beats while the vocals are mostly deep death metal growls and you can also hear a small amount of melody in the guitar riffing and high pitched screams are also used at times.

Throughout the recording you can hear a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and there is also a brief use of spoken word samples and after awhile the riffing starts mixing technical and brutal parts together and when solos and leads are utilized they add in a very dark style of death metal and keyboards also return briefly on a later track and they close the album with a cover of Malevolent Creation's "Living In Fear".

On this recording Antropofagus focuses less on the technical side and go for more of a brutal style of death metal, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover life, death, resurrection, and the descent into the darkest depths of self.

In my opinion this is another great sounding album from Antropofagus and if you are a fan of this band, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Whirlwind Of Initiation" "Praise To A Hecatomb!" " Quintessence Of Suffering" and "Living In Fear". 8 out of 10.

Trepid Elucidation are a band from Portugal that plays a very progressive and technical form of death metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Upcoming Reality" which will be released on February 24th by Mosher Records.

Synths and distorted guitar sounds start off the album along with some death metal growls that lead up to a heavier musical direction where you can also hear all of the instruments that are presented on the recording and the riffing also incorporates a great amount of progressive elements and melody.

Most of the guitar leads are done in a very melodic and technical style while high pitched screams are also added into some parts of the songs and some of the tracks are long and epic in length and some tracks also bring in bass leads and when the music speeds up a great amount o brutal blast beats can be heard and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with clean playing also being added into certain sections of the recording and synths also return on some of the later songs.

Trepid Elucidation plays a style of death metal that is very technical and progressive sounding while also having its brutal moments, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark and philosophical themes.

In my opinion Trepid Elucidation are a very great sounding progressive and technical death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Unquestionable Death" and "Corpse That Breeds". 8 out of 10.

Creeping Fear are a band from France that plays a brutal form of death metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Onward to Apocalypse" which will be released in March by Dolorem Records.

War samples start off the album before going into a very fast and brutal direction along with a great amount of blast beats and high pitched screams as well as some death metal growls and the solos and leads also add in a very chaotic style and the music is very heavily rooted in the mid 90's era of the genre.

Throughout the recording you can hear a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts while all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and some of the fast riffs also utilize a great amount of tremolo picking and war samples also return on some of the later tracks along with the riffing incorporating more melody as the album progresses and all of the songs stick to a very heavy and brutal direction and a couple of the tracks are long and epic in length.

Creeping Fear plays a style of death metal that is very fast, aggressive and brutal sounding, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover War, Satanism, Death, and Violence themes.

In my opinion Creeping Fear are a very great sounding brutal death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Life Denied" "Trenches Of Desolation" "As Vultures Fly, Battlefield Blee" and "Disposable Existence". 8 out of 10.

Morfin are a band from Los Angeles, California that plays an old school form of death metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Consumed By Evil" which will be released in May by FDA Records.

A very raw, heavy and aggressive sound starts off the album along with a great amount of blast beats and the solos and leads are very dark and melodic while you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and the vocals are old school death metal growls that are easy to understand.

Most of the music is rooted in the mid 80's to early 90's and throughout the recording you can hear a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and some songs also bring in a small amount of clean guitars and the songs sound like they could of been recorded and released more than 25 years ago and there is also a brief use of high pitched screams and one track also brings in a small amount of bass guitar leads.

Morfin plays a style of death metal that is very old school in the mid 80's to early 90's tradition, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover life, gore, dreams, death, and occult themes.

In my opinion Morfin are a very great sounding old school death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Reincarnated" " Demonic Infestation" "Contorted Truths" and "Consumed By Evil'. 8 out of 10.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Resurgency are a band from Greece that has been featured before in this zine and plays an old school form of brutal death metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "No Worlds...No Gods Above" which will be released in April by FDA Records.

A very heavy and brutal sound starts off the album along with a great amount of blast beats and death metal growls a few seconds later and the riffs also utilize a lot of morbid sounding melodies while the solos and leads are done in a very chaotic fashion along with the music being rooted in the mid 90's to early 2000's.

A lot of American death metal influences can be heard in the bands musical style and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them while the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with one of the tracks being an instrumental and the album also remains very heavy and brutal from beginning to ending of the recording.

Resurgency creates another recording that remains true to the brutal and old school death metal approach of previous releases, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover apocalypse, gore, death and chaos themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Resurgency and if you are a fan of brutal and old school death metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Thresholds Of Infinite Pain" "Upset Sun In Shade Deforms" "Permutation Rites" and "Quartered Mental Existence". 8 out of 10.

Reactor where a band form Switzerland that later evolved into Sickening Gore and played a traditional form of death metal and this is a review of their 1991 ep "The Tribunal From Above" which will be re-issued in march by Vic Records.

Horror movie style keyboards start off the ep and there is also a brief use of clean playing before going into a heavier musical direction and the riffs also bring in a great amount of melody and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard while the vocals are mostly death metal growls.

A couple of the tracks are very long and epic in length while the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and acoustic guitars can also be heard in certain sections of the recording along with solos and leads displaying a great amount of talent and skill and screams are also used at times and the fast parts of the songs also utilize a great amount of raw aggression.

Reactor played a style of death metal that was very heavy and aggressive for the era it was released, the production sounds very raw and heavy while the lyrics cover violent, dark and anti religion themes.

In my opinion Reactor where a very great sounding death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this re-issue. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Deformed Personality" and "Religious Fight". 8 out of 10.

Khropus are a band from Brazil that plays a very brutal and fast form of death metal and this is a review of a 2016 compilation album which was released by Grinder Cirujano Records and consists of their 2009 and 2013 albums "Presages" and "Eyes of Madness".

A very fast and brutal sound starts off the album along with a great amount of blast beats and high pitched screams while all of the musical instruments sound very powerful and after awhile guttural death metal growls make their presence known and the solos and leads bring in a very dark and melodic style.

Throughout the compilation you can hear a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and bass guitar leads can also be heard at times and the riffs also bring in a decent amount of melody and one track also brings in a brief use of acoustic guitars before returning back to a brutal direction and the second album on the compilation is in the same tradition as the first recording while also utilizing a more raw approach and more old school influences and there is also a brief use of clean guitars.

Khropus plays a style of death metal that is very brutal while also demonstrating a great amount of talent and skill as musicians, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover death, violence, darkness, occult and mythological themes.

In my opinion Khropus are a very great sounding brutal death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this compilation. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Of the Elders" "Spirits" "The Book Of The Dead" and "Master Of The Shadows". 8 out of 10.

Hellcraft are a band from Russia that has been featured before in this zine and plays an old school form of death metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Apotheosis Of War" which was released as a joint effort between Symbol Of Domination, More hate productions and Murdher Records.

Horror soundtrack style synths start off the album and after while the music goes into a very fast and brutal direction along with a great amount of blast beats and the riffs also add in a lot of morbid sounding melodies while the vocals are mostly death metal growls and the music is heavily rooted in the 90s.

All of the musical instruments on the recording have a very powerful sound to them along with high pitched screams also being utilized at times and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and the solos and leads are very heavily influenced by the Florida style and synths also make a return on some of the later tracks and one song also brings in a brief use of war samples and acoustic guitars are added onto the closing song.

Hellcraft creates another recording that remains true to the old school style of death metal from previous releases, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover cruelty, violence, horror and dark feelings themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Hellcraft and if you are a fan of old school death metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Repentance Through the Pain" "Under Death Blessing" and "When The Sun Goes Out". 8 out of 10.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

Eheh, we fought a lot to finish this record, especially for the sound and the final master. We’ve spent plenty of time to make a good recording and songwriting, and that thing needs more beers and a lot of broken glasses, but in the end we’re satisfied for the result. Rotten Roll Rex and Marco did the rest, and we are very proud to join his family, thanks Kunz!

2.In December you had released a new album, how would describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Basically, the sound is not that different between the other records, it’s just more studied, but it's the same shit. Rough, brutal, direct, and Valerio of Hombrelobo Studio made a great job!

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

Ahah, like question number 2, our lyrics are not in continue “evolution”, we can answer you like Metal Archives… Alcohol, Sex, Bud Spencer! And a little bit of action movie violence, we’re not so serious, we like to joke and make our listeners have fun.

4.Originally the band was known as 'Southern Brewtality', what was the cause of the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Southern Drinkstruction'?

In 2005, we wanted to choose a name with the word “Southern”, because of deep south of Italy origins of the founding members, and another word to explain our passion for beer. We tried "draught", "malt", "spaghetti", "brewtality" and many other funny names; and when we chose “Brewtality”, here arrives on the myspace page a mail from another band from U.S.A., with telephone number of their lawyer, and the threat of take legal ways, we said… fuck you, and we chose a better one: Drinkstruction.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Sure the last one in Switzerland, at Infected by Lepra Blues Death Fest, and also the gigs spent together with big bands like Obituary, Entombed and Asphyx, but we always enjoy the stage in every place, small clubs or big shows, for us it makes no difference. We try our best, in every situation, we think that live performance is the most important thing for a band, we don’t record anything that is non reproducible on stage, today everyone can do an album.

6.Do you have any touring plans or shows lined up for the new album?

Usually we plan single gigs, or two in one weekend, on may we'll be playing in Belgium and we have some concerts around the Italy, but we can treat any offer, so… call us because we’re always boner and ready to change your life with the best show ever seen!

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

For someone we are too “Rock” for Death Metal, for others we are too brutal for Rock ’N’ Roll, but many people follow us and like our stuff, fortunately, many reviews are positive. Southern Drinkstruction is an hybrid with lots of contamination, from Grind to Blues, from Death Metal to Southern Rock, mixed up with Doom and Thrash, and who really understands that appreciates it a lot.

8.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

All of us today have side projects, in Rome we have a lot of friends and “musicians” and a new band can being established at the table of the Pub. Our other projects represents that we listen every kind of music, Ordnal plays Electronic Music (Primitive in the Extreme) and Gabber (Justice Plague), Eddie also plays Country, but basically we are metal heads, Corpsefucking Art (were Basthard & Eddie play) is a Brutal Death Band, made of good friends; Zorro plays in a Heavy Stoner Band (Chronic Hangover) and also in a bunch of rudes called Underball. Finally, we’re always busy.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

At Super Bowl halftime show like Lady Gaga, flying and puking and farting all over the people, but also Oktoberfest is in our plans.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Are you ready for the most long list of bands of your life? Really, we listen to everything, check out our cover of Zuppa Romana, from a german band called Schrott Nach 8. Our influences in Southern Drinkstruction can be simplified in Death-Doom, Thrash, Brutal and fucking Rock ’n’ Roll. We prefer to go back in time in music interests, we grew up with old school stuff, and we love the music from the past.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I can answer you with things like Design, Art, Motorbikes, Cinema, Literature, Craft Beer, but the reality is Pussy, pussy, and pussy yet.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?